Mick Cleary: Itoje in need of big moment with Lions captaincy firmly within Doris' grasp 

Caelan Doris is currently the leader in the clubhouse with much credit to his name. 

LEADING MEN: Ireland’s Caelan Doris and Maro Itoje of England at the launch of the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations Championship at the Colosseum in Rome. Pic: Billy Stickland/Inpho

You don’t win a Lions series without a good captain. 

John Dawes, Willie John McBride, Finlay Calder, Martin Johnson and Sam Warburton are testimony to that, a roll call of fine stewardship with a mix of talents – hard-nosed badasses such as Willie John and Johnson, the man whom Ian McGeechan chose for the 1997 tour even though he wasn’t a national captain because he wanted the Springboks to have to literally look upwards when Johnson knocked on the door for the toss.